History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts - citizen hylbom blog

eighty, having galleries at each end, and furnish-
ing accommodation for one thousand worshippers.
Newton Lower Falls is two miles distant from
Newton Upper Falls, and has two dams, the upper
of sixteen feet of water, the lower of six. Iron-
works, a forge, and trip-liammer, were erected here
in NO^, when the water-power was first utilized.
In June, 1703, John Leverett, Esq., conveyed to
John Hubbard, of Eoxbury, four acres of land on
Cliarles River, at Newton Lower Falls, being the
same land which the proprietors of the common
and undivided lands in Cambridge granted to him,
and the same which is now occupied by all the
mills on the Newton side of the river. In 1705
John Hubbard, merchant, of Boston, conveyed to
his son, Natlianiel Hubbard, one half of the four-
acre lot above referred to, " together with half of
the iron-works thereon, with two fire hearths and
a hammer wheel, which said John Hubbard and
Caleb Churcli, of Watertown, are now building in
partnership on said land, with as much of the stream
as may be necessary for said works, with half the
dam, flume, head-wares, running and going gear,
utensils and appurtenances to the forge belonging."
John Hubbard died in 1717.
In nii Nathaniel Hubbard, in consideration
of £140, conveyed to Jonathan Willard, bloomer,
of Newton, part of a tract of land purchased of
John Leverett, with a smith's shop thereon. This
Mr. Willard had occupied tiie smith's shop as a
tenant several years ])revious to his purchase and
partnership with Hubbard. He is said to have
been an ingenious, upright, and conscientious man,
and the first Baptist in the tow-n. He was the
principal man of the iron-works and of the village
for nearly half a century. He died in 1772, aged
ninety-five. Among the various kinds of business
carried on here are iron-works, saw-mills, grist-
mills, snuff-mills, clothing-mills, leather-mills, pa-
per-mills, calico-printing, machine-sliops, etc.; but
the manufacture of paper has been the principal
business for the last half-century, during which
eight or ten paper-mills have been in constant op-
eration. The first paper-mill was erected at the
Lower Falls about 1790, by Mr. John Ware,
brother of Dr. Henry Ware, Hollis Professor of
Divinity in Harvard University. The paper-mak-
ing business, in the progress of years, assumed
NEWTON. 237
i
a most useful and influential citizen of the town,
and his brother, Alexander H. Rice, Esq., ex-gov-
ernor of the commonwealth of Massachusetts, for
a long time supplied all the paper for one of the
most widely circulated daily journals of Boston.
The growth of the village at the Lower Falls, pre-
vious to the enjoyment of railroad facilities, was
very slow. In 1800 the whole number of families
did not exceed eight or ten. In 18'2.3 there were
405 inhabitants aiul about 33 dwelling-houses ; in
1837, 493 inhabitants and about 88 families; in
1847, 560 inhabitants and about 103 families;
in 1850, 627 inhabitants and about 121 families
and 80 dwelling-houses.
Public worship after the form of the Episcopal
Church was first held in Newton Lower Falls in
tiie autumn of 1811. The meetings were at first
in the district school-house, and the service was
read by Mr. John R. Cotting. An Episcopal parish
was organized April 7, 1812, and Major Solomon
Curtis and Thomas Durant were chosen wardens.
A hall for worship was procured in a building at
the west corner of Main and Church streets. The
society was incorporated by the legislature of Mas-
sachusetts in June, 1813. Samuel Brown, a mer-
chant of Boston, presented to the society two acres
of land for a church aiul cemetery. The corner-
stone of the church was laid September 29, 1813,
and the church dedicated April 29, 1814, Rev.
Bishop Griswold officiating. Public worship was
afterwards conducted mainly by graduates of Cam-
bridge who were students in theology, and by temporary
supplies, till November 28, 1822, when
Rev. A. L. Baury was installed rector. The Sun-
day-school was organized in the spring of 1818.
Tlie church was enlarged in 1838, and the basement
converted into a lecture-room. Mr. Baury
was rector till September, 1851. His successors
were Rev. Henry Woods, 1851 to 1853; Rev.
Andrew Croswell, 1853 to 1856; Rev. Henry
Burroughs, 1856 to T858; Rev. Benjamin F. De
Costa, 1859 ; Rev. Winslow W. Sever, 1860 to
1865; Rev. Joseph Kidder, 1865 to 1868; Rev.
Richard F. Putnam, 1868 to 1875. Rev. Henry
Mackay, installed in 1876, is the present pastor.
The "Methodist Chu-rch at Newton Lower Falls
was organized in 1867.
West Newton, owing to tlie advantages of its
location, but more to the enterprise of its inhabi-
tants, early took a high position among the villages
I very important proportions. The mills here, under of the town. The large tavern-house, so called,
the auspices of Tliomas Uice, Esq., for many years still standing, shows the place to have been an im-